The findings are part of a wider analysis which predicts that, across all categories of food and drink, the inflation rate will increase by over third, from 3.3% in 2012 to 4.5% in 2013.
David Read, chief executive of Prestige Purchasing, said: “What we’re seeing is a surge in food inflation which will continue into 2013. We may even in due course be heading back towards 2008 levels where food inflation peaked at over 8%. This would obviously have quite an impact on the catering and hospitality trade.
“Per tonne production costs for agriculture are increasing significantly, due to low yields and a dramatic increase in feed costs. Oil costs and a rise in chemical costs will also put pressure on food and drink inflation.
“In the longer term, broader trends like climate change, population growth and the increasing sophistication of commodity markets will continue to impact food and drink prices. As such, we expect food inflation to continue to rise above current levels next year.
Smart catering and hospitality operators need to explore mitigating options to manage the impact of food inflation. Single site operators can enhance their buying by utilising tools like Benchmarking and Market Reports to ensure they are managing their business to meet these changes. In addition, multi-site operators can focus on more sophisticated techniques like Distribution and Sourcing Optimisation.
Source: Prestige Purchasing
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